from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

Speaking after the GM’s wrapped up meetings at the Ritz Carlton hotel, Dorion said the club needs to start winning games after coming out of the gate with a 5-9-1 record, but doesn’t believe a coaching change is the answer.

“Coaching is not the issue. Simple as that. That’s it,” said Dorion. “For me, it’s the first time we’ve given D.J. a team that can compete for a possible playoff spot. So I think we’ve got to be patient there.”

Dorion is right because it’s too easy to blame the coach. The problem has been inconsistency from virtually every player, with the exception of rookie defenceman Jake Sanderson.

Coming off a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders Monday at the Canadian Tire Centre, the level of frustration is building with the club sitting in second-last place in the Eastern Conference.

This isn’t the way anybody envisioned the Senators would start this season.

While it appears goaltender Craig Anderson will make his return to Ottawa sitting on the bench Wednesday with the Buffalo Sabres for the first time since the club didn’t bring him back at the end of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Senators need to find a way to get back on track.

After adding forwards Alex DeBrincat (Chicago) and Claude Giroux (Philadelphia) along with goaltender Cam Talbot (Minnesota) in the off-season, Dorion is disappointed with the club’s record to start the season and last week called this stretch of the schedule “pivotal”.

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